Straightening Priorities
by AnonymousSupport
Summary: A tough case and a new 'friend' helps Castle and Beckett speed their relationship along as they straighten their priorities.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello readers! I've been lurking around this site for quite sometime and decided I should write a story of my own. This is my first fanfic, so be patient with me. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. Just give this one a chance, and keep in mind when it comes to technical cop terms I have no clue.**

**Disclaimer: I should put one of these in here, right? Castle isn't mine, neither are it's characters.**

* * *

><p>"Kate, I love you. I love you, Kate"<p>

She woke with a start when her cell phone went off. She all but sighed when she reached over to pick it up. The memory of those words used to haunt her more than the bullet she took did, but the thought was becoming less like a nightmare and more like a dream. She acknowledged this, that wasn't the issue. The issue was letting him in on this little secret.

The third ring of her phone pulled her back down to earth.

"Beckett"

She reached over to the pen and paper she kept on her nightstand. Most people would consider it odd, but she had been woken in the middle of the night enough times to know to keep something around to write down the address where the next body was awaiting her and her team. She jotted down the address before hanging up.

* * *

><p>He was enjoying a particular PG rated dream that involved his favorite detective and some very hyper toddlers when his cell phone woke him from his slumber. He groaned while blindly reaching over to grab his phone, successfully knocking over a lamp in the process.<p>

"Castle" he grumbled.

"Well aren't you cheery this morning?" Beckett said from the other end of the call.

"It's…3 a.m." he said pausing to check the clock on his phone.

"We got a body, you in?"

"Give me 20 minutes."

"You got 10."

He looked at his phone. Sure enough, she hung up. "The things I do for this woman" he mumbled as he forced himself up out of his bed.

* * *

><p>They arrived at the crime scene 45 minutes later, Castle still complaining about the early wake up, Beckett still telling him that he didn't have to be there (Which they both knew was pointless, there was no doubt he wanted to be there).<p>

As they ducked under the yellow crime scene tape into the alley, Lanie called out to Beckett.

"Girl, what took you and writer-boy so long?"

"Castle had to do his hair."

"Very manly bro" Esposito said as he walked over, leaving Ryan to talk to the man who found the body.

"I did not 'do my hair'" Castle replied, "I combed my hair. Combed. Big difference."

"It does not take 10 minutes to 'comb your hair'" Beckett teased with a smile playing at her lips. Sensing a comeback, she walked over to Lanie, who was kneeling next to an unusually small body. "What do we got?"

"Well, by the looks of it we have a 13-16 year old Asian female. Multiple stab wounds to the back. So far I count 7." The M.E. said with a grimace as her friend examined the body.

"Someone was not a happy camper." Castle joked, but his face was serious. The younger ones, especially the teenage girls, were harder to see sprawled out on the ground, lifeless. Even he agreed with that.

After a quick glare pointed in Castle's direction, Lanie continued, "The only signs of struggle are bruise marks by her hairline." She pulled the girl's hair back to show the purple marks along her forehead. "The killer must have pulled her hair from behind before he stabbed her."

"Do we have an ID?" Beckett said, turning to Esposito.

"There wasn't anything besides a cell phone. Ryan's working to get it back right now." Said Esposito.

"Get it back?" Castle echoed.

"Harry the hobo over there found her next to the garbage bins" Ryan said, joining the rest of his team standing around the body. "He then took her cell phone out of her pocket, and called 911. I just convinced him to give it back" he said, holding up the pre-paid phone up in triumph. The look on his face quickly turned to disgust as he wiped something green and fuzzy from the screen of the phone.

"Harry needs to wash up" Castle observed.

Ignoring Ryan and Castle, Beckett turned back to Lanie, "Time of death?"

"Somewhere between 3-5 hours ago" she replied.

"Any idea what caused the stab wounds?"

"Definitely some sort of short, dull blade, I'll know more once I get her back to the morgue."

Beckett turned to the boys. "Esposito, Ryan, you two canvas the area for the murder weapon. See if you can find anything that can ID her and ask Harry and his friends if they saw anything" she said, pointing to the drunken homeless men that have gathered around the other side of the crime scene tape, fighting over what looked like a shoe.

"And what exactly are you going to do, boss?" Esposito said, annoyance clear in his voice.

"Castle and I are going to take the vic's cell down to the precinct" she said as she snatched the phone that had just been put in an evidence bag by Ryan.

"So not fair" Ryan said under his breath. Esposito hummed his agreement as Castle and Beckett walked towards the car.


	2. Chapter 2

Castle and Beckett were looking through the victim's phone at the precinct. Actually, Beckett was pretending to look through the phone while Castle was watching her from his chair at the side of her desk. He was staring at her in a way that she would've found creepy if it were anyone else. She tried to redirect her attention back to the phone as she read that same text for the 20th time.

Castle was watching her. He watches her brow furrow in concentration, but her thumbs haven't moved in 10 minutes, and her eyes seem a bit distant. He wonders what she's thinking about, and if it's the same thing he's thinking about. It probably isn't, considering he's thinking about how beautiful she is and how bittersweet it is that she can completely ignore him when he stares at her. On one hand, he can't annoy her just by looking at her, and he finds it hilarious when she's annoyed. And somewhat hot. On the other hand, it just shows how far their ever-progressing relationship is getting.

Castle was the first to break the silence, "So, find anything?"

"Huh?"

Castle's eyes twinkled in amusement as the right side of his mouth twitched up. "Did you find anything useful in the phone?"

Crap. The phone. She was supposed to be looking in the phone. She quickly scrolled through the last few texts. "It seems she was pretty angry at a girl named Kristin Johnson. The texts don't really specify what she was angry about, there's just a lot of name calling." Beckett said.

"Was this 'Kristin' angered by this name calling?" Castle asked confused by, yet enjoying the embarrassed look she had on her face, like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"No, she just kept saying things like 'you wound me' and 'those harsh words don't suit you'. She just mocked her basically." Beckett replied.

"Anything in interesting in the call history?" Castle asked.

"Um…" She navigated through the unfamiliar phone. "Yeah, actually. She got a call from a restricted number at 10:52 p.m. that lasted 3 minutes. She got a call from Kristin at 11:17 a.m., which is in our kill zone. That call lasted 12 minutes."

"So…" Castle began with a fresh theory in his mind. "She gets a call from her friend Kristin saying she's sorry and she wants to meet. Kristin waits for her to show up, hiding behind the trash cans. When our Jane Doe shows up, Kristin grabs her hair and stabs her in the back."

"Wow" Beckett said sarcastically.

"I know, huh?" Castle said, not catching on.

"Yeah, it's great. The only problems are that Kristin didn't even appear to be angry at her. And she took 12 minutes to explain she was sorry and she wanted to meet? Doesn't seem likely. And we don't even know who are vic is, so we don't know Kristin's connection to her is. And to top it all off, this could be a random killing."

"Killjoy" He mumbled.

"And Castle I have to say that theory of yours was pretty lacking, maybe you're losing your touch." Becket half teased, although she was slightly disappointed that he hadn't even thought of a motive for this mystery 'Kristin'. It wasn't a very Castle-like plot.

Castle was slightly hurt until he realized that what her teasing actually meant. "You know, detective, if you want me to tell you story all you have to do is ask." He turned to face her, leaning forward while resting his chin on his palm, expectantly.

She was slightly startled he had saw through her, but not startled enough for a retort. "It's too early in the morning to hear about mob hits and CIA. Maybe if you could think of something new, I would ask." She said as she raised her eyebrow for effect.

Castle opened his mouth to reply, but the elevator dinged before Esposito and Ryan walked into the bull pen.

"Got an ID on our vic." Ryan said he used a magnet to stick a picture on the murder board.

"Name is Janie Lee, age 15. She moved to America from Korea in 1999 with her parents, who currently live in Washington." Esposito said to Beckett.

Before she could reply, Castle interjected, "Washington? D.C.?"

"Nope. Walla-Walla, Washington." Esposito replied.

"What was she doing on the East coast?" Beckett asked while looking at the picture on the nearly empty murder board.

"Well, we-" Esposito started.

"Wait, there's a place called Walla-Walla, Washington?" Castle asked while laughing, effectively cutting off Esposito.

Seeing the glare that Esposito was staring down Castle with, Ryan answered Beckett, "We don't know, but we have the parents' number here." He said, looking over Esposito's shoulder at the report.

"Well let's give them a call." Beckett said, taking the clipboard.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again, completely slipped my mind to put a little note at the beginning of the last chapter, I was trying to upload it quickly before I had to leave the house. Anyways when I got home and saw my first two reviews I was so happy I typed out another chapter right away. **

**Disclaimer: Castle doesn't belong to me, nor do it's characters. **

**P.S.** **Did anyone else not know that neglective isn't an actual word?**

**P.P.S. I was listening to Adele while typing this, so if it is lacking in humor, I apologize.**

* * *

><p>"It's 4:30 in the morning, can't you wait to call or something?" Castle asked hesitantly.<p>

"There are lots of people awake by this time." Beckett said, mid dial.

"It's only 1:30 am in Wa-" Ryan started to point out, but Beckett turned around to give him a look that could kill. "Sorry" He muttered.

"Lots of people are awake at 1:30 am too." Beckett said. "And unless Lanie found something, we don't have anything to go off of." All three of them turned to Esposito.

"What are you looking at me for?" Esposito asked indignantly.

"Do you know if Lanie found anything, Esposito?" Castle asked while smirking.

"We broke up. You guys know that." He said, annoyed.

"Sure." Castle said, but didn't press. He'd be stupid to with those daggers Esposito was shooting at him with his eyes. It was all he could do not to laugh out loud at the resemblance to Lanie's signature glare.

"Unless one of you would like to call the vic's parents to inform them that their daughter is dead," Beckett said, getting the conversation back on track, "I'm going to call them now." Of course no one spoke up. "Didn't think so." She said under her breath.

* * *

><p>This was always the hardest part. That wasn't going to change. It didn't matter if the news of a death is given in person or over the phone, if the receiver of the news was heartbroken or completely unaffected. Whatever the circumstances, though, it had to be done. And she hated it. Maybe it was because she had been the one hearing the news from a cop in the past, or maybe it was because she was only human. Either way, she needed to stop feeling sorry for herself, because the phone was on its second ring, and someone was going to pick up soon. Or not. Maybe she could delay the inevitable.<p>

"Hello?" A man's sleepy and annoyed voice said over the phone.

"Hello, this is Detective Beckett of the NYPD. I need to speak to a Mr. or Mrs. Lee." She said.

"This is Mr. Lee." He said, considerably more awake and alert.

"It's about your daughter, Janie Lee…"

* * *

><p>After a long and awkward conversation that involved a whole lot of yelling from Mr. Lee and some sobbing in the background, presumably from Mrs. Lee, Beckett hung up the phone. She turned to Castle who was watching her intently. He had just returned to his chair with two steaming cups of coffee, and she took hers greedily. Ryan and Esposito had gone back to their desks when she had called the vic's parents, perhaps out of courtesy, or maybe it was because no one liked 'the call'. Avoiding Castle's searching gaze, she told him the newly gained information, speaking loudly enough so the whole team could hear, "Apparently our vic was invited to go on a trip to New York by a friend, all expenses paid."<p>

"So that explains why she was in New York. Who was this mystery friend? Think they could be our killer?" Castle asked, almost excitedly. Maybe they could have this case closed before noon.

"Not so fast." Beckett said, seeing where his direction of thinking was going. "Her parents didn't know who this 'friend' was."

"What!" Castle exclaimed, nearly jumping up in outrage as his fatherly instincts where kicking in. "So their daughter says, 'Hey, my friend and I are going to the other side of the country.' and, what? They say 'Okay honey, see you later!' without even asking who she was going with?"

"Her dad said she kept to herself. She went to school, and then came home and went into her room. She didn't go out with friends. When she said she was taking a trip with a friend, they didn't want to ruin it by intruding." Beckett said, trying to put an end Castle's rant. She appreciated this protective family side of him; it was one of the qualities she…liked about him. But they weren't going to get anywhere if he was angry.

"But they didn't even ask? What if he's lying?" Castle asked, less angry.

"Then we'll find out. I'm a detective, in case you didn't notice, Castle."

Castle leaned forward, his voice lowering, "Oh believe me, I've noticed. In fact, I have noticed much-"

"Anyways," Beckett started, cut him off. She knew where this conversation was headed, and she needed to keep them focused. Normally she was fine with his sexual innuendo (okay, maybe she did enjoy it a bit) but a quick glance at Ryan and Esposito confirmed that the pair was watching them like hawks. "Aside from school, all she did was play video games."

"What kind of video games?" Castle asked, interested.

"I don't know, I didn't ask." She said, rolling her eyes at his boyish nature. "Mr. Lee said he and his wife would be on a plane as soon as possible, which I told him was unnecessary. He insisted, so you can ask him when he gets here."

"Maybe he should've been less neglectful when his child was alive." Castle muttered.

"I also asked about Kristin Johnson, they haven't heard that name before." Beckett continued.

"Of course they haven't. Because only good parents would know who your kid is aquatinted with." Castle said darkly.

"We could call Kristin's number that's on the vic's cell phone" Esposito suggested from across the bullpen.

"Nose goes!" Castle yelled (with more energy than anyone should have at 5 in the morning) as his index finger flew to the tip of his nose. Everyone mimicked his action, but Ryan was the slowest. He mumbled something incoherent as he stood up and walked over to retrieve the victim's phone from Beckett.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hiya! So it turns out that a long weekend+procrastination of homework=new chapter. So there. I got a bit sidetracked this time, mostly because I have a beginning, middle, and end in mind with no clue how to get there.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle**

* * *

><p>"No answer." Ryan said as he hung up the precinct phone.<p>

"I wouldn't answer my phone if someone called me at this time of morning either." Castle said.

"Unless it's Beckett." Esposito stage-whispered to Ryan, earning a dirty look from both Castle and Beckett. "What? You set yourself up for that one." Esposito said to Castle.

"There wasn't a voicemail set up, so I couldn't leave a message." Ryan continued.

"Well did you find out the service provider from the voicemail?" Castle asked.

"Yeah, Verizon." Ryan said slowly, not sure where Castle was headed.

"Can't you guys do your detective-y thing and find out where she lives using her cell phone number? "

"We'd need a warrant for that, Castle. And we can't get a warrant if we don't have probable cause. And as I said before, we don't know what Johnson's connection is to Lee." Beckett said, sighing. Castle may have been starting to have the attitude of a cop after all these years, but he still needed to be reminded of the basics at least once a day.

"Well what is Kristin's number?" Castle asked, determined.

"609-213-2557" Ryan said, looking down at Janie's contact list.

"609? That's a Jersey area code, an hour and a half drive and she could've met up with our victim." Castle said, looking at Beckett.

"Yeah, but that doesn't exactly narrow it down." Beckett said.

"So…" Castle said. "What now?"

That was a good question. The three detectives were silent. They couldn't do anything because of the shortage of information on Janie Lee. Beckett was the first to speak up, "We can't call the vic's parents, hopefully they are already at an airport and will show up before the day's over. We'll just have to try and contact this mystery 'Kristin Johnson' again later. Until then…we wait and hope Lanie finds something."

"Well then." Castle started, standing up. "Think the bakery's open at…5:13?" He said as he checked his watch.

"I think they open at 5:30" Beckett said.

"Breakfast run it is." Castle said as he strode towards the elevator.

Castle decided to walk to the bakery down the street. The first morning light had appeared awhile ago, and the first few people were starting to walk the streets of New York.

The walk from the precinct only took 15 minutes, and that was because the street lights weren't in his favor this morning. When he got to the bakery, though, the doors were open and there were already a few people inside. Castle was momentarily confused until he remembered that the bakery is only open on Sundays, and if people wanted their fill of the assortment of pastries they had to offer, they had to get in early. He took a number and waited, feeling silly because there were only 3 other people in the building with him. He got over himself when a few minutes later people started filing through the door.

In ten minutes the bakery was packed, but thankfully his number was called. After pointing at a bunch of random items, he took the bags from the woman at the counter, filled with god knows what. You would think being a best -selling author that he would have gotten around more, and that he would be aware of at least half of the bag's contents, but no.

Leaving the bakery he realized it was still only quarter to six, and Lanie probably didn't find anything yet. It wasn't like they could just call her and say, 'hey, we got nothing…so hurry it up with the autopsy'. It wasn't unlike Lanie to slow her pace just because she was told to speed up.

He decided to waste some more time by walking down to Starbucks, which also conveniently close. It only took him five minutes to get there, and he ordered coffee for the whole team. Castle remembered when he first showed up to hand Beckett her coffee, and how she was surprised (probably creeped out as well) that he knew what coffee she ordered. He had replied, 'I'm a writer, it's my job to notice things.' Which is a completely untrue statement. He was a writer, his job was to write. Her job was to notice things.

At the time it was to impress her, bringing her coffee exactly the way she liked it. Over time he had picked up on what Ryan and Esposito liked to drink as well, spending three years with the same people will do that to you.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he realized the coffee was ready. He grabbed a tray and placed the coffees in it, and then left the shop.

Castle was carrying enough food to feed a small army (that's what the precinct was, wasn't it?) so he decided he'd better hail a cab so he doesn't drop the cargo on the way. After finally catching the attention of a driver, Castle got in the taxi and told the driver his destination.


	5. Chapter 5

**What did you all think of Linchpin? I was enjoying it until Sophia and Beckett talked about Castle. I was thinking, 'If this is the writers' way of dragging out Caskett another 10 seasons, I'm gonna jump off a cliff.' But I got over myself and I enjoyed the rest of the episode, especially the end. I was only slightly disappointed Castle and Beckett didn't jump each other in the middle of the precinct.**

**Now, on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: Castle doesn't belong to me.**

* * *

><p>Castle walked through the front doors of the precinct armed with enough food to feed a small village in Africa. He got in the elevator, only to hear a very stern, "Hold the door!"<p>

He almost dropped the coffees and the food, but he caught them and avoided that disaster. Remembering he did have two feet currently not in use, Castle stuck out his foot at the last second and the elevator doors opened again. He was mentally congratulating himself when Victoria Gates walked in the elevator.

"Castle" She said, acknowledging his presence. Or maybe greeting him, he couldn't tell what it was. He decided to play it safe and greet her.

"Sir. You're in early." He said. Captain or not, it was still only just past six.

The only thing she did to answer him was a glare. Guess it wasn't a greeting. Castle was trying to think of a joke to make light of the situation, but the elevator slowed to a stop and the doors slid open. He nearly dropped the goods again when he had to avoid Gates so she didn't knock him over. Why is it she walks everywhere as fast as humanly possible?

He first made sure everything was secure, and then he walked out of the elevator and went straight to the break room. He'd be damned if he dropped anything after all that effort.

It wasn't long before the rest of the team was in the break room, drinking their coffee and eating their choice of pastry. Castle had been pretty proud of himself after he convinced Beckett to eat something after only two tries.

Castle, Ryan, and Esposito when their next madden get-together would be when Beckett got a text from Lanie.

"Come on, Castle. Lanie's got something for us." Beckett said as she turned to leave the room.

* * *

><p>The journey to the morgue was quick; it involved some small talk about how Martha was doing and how Alexis's search for colleges was going.<p>

When they got there, Lanie jumped straight in, "The puncture wounds where she was stabbed only go as deep as about one and a half inches-"

"So?" Castle asked, oblivious to the fact he had ruined whatever flow the ME was building up.

Lanie gave Castle the evil eye (and Beckett when she caught her trying to suppress a smile) before continuing, "So, one and a half inches is the average size for a pocket knife. And I counted-"

"She was stabbed to death with a pocket knife? That would…" Castle trailed off as he saw the 'I'm-going-to-cut-you-open-with-one-of-these-scalpels' look from Lanie. "Sorry."

"If you interrupt me one more time, Imma smack you." Lanie said. She noticed Beckett had found a very interesting spot on the floor as she bit her lip. What was with that girl? Two years ago she would've been the one threatening bodily harm to Castle. Maybe she should start investing in the Castle/Beckett pool again at the precinct.

"Lanie, what were you saying?" Beckett asked, trying not to laugh at the way Castle was fidgeting with the seam of his coat.

What was she saying? Oh, yeah. "I counted the stab wounds, turns out there's 10, not 7."

"Thanks, Lanie. Is that it?" Beckett asked. They didn't really have any useful leads, but she wasn't about to tell her friend that. Lanie was already annoyed with Castle, better him then her.

"That's it. I'll call you if I find anything else."

"Thanks"

* * *

><p><strong>I know this chapter is rather short, but I have a monumental pile of homework waiting for me. I'll try and update in the next few days.<strong>


End file.
